First, Magni is not the god of strength in Norse mythology. He is not the god of anything. Odin does not even seem to consider him an Aesir, calling him the mere son of a giant (which is funny considering most of his children, including Thor, are the sons of giants). Nor is it suggested anywhere that he is stronger than Thor.
"But his name means strength, like Thor's means Thunder". So? Thor has two daughters, both of whom's names mean power, another son whose name means Angry or Wrath and a step-son who's name means Glory. None of these are the gods of those elements (the later, Uller, is considered by most to be the god of archery and skiing). Most modern scholars view it more as the fact that all of his children have names related to attributes of their father. Hell, Thor's home is called the hall of strength.
"But he was able to lift a giant that Thor or any other god couldn't." No, he was able to lift a giant's leg that had fallen on the back of Thor's neck. Let's think for a second exactly how big and how heavy that would have to be to pin someone who can juggle whales in the myths. Then remember that, according to the myths it fell on the back of Thor's neck. Take something large and heavy that you would otherwise be able to lift and have it fall on your back, your arms and legs are going to be pinned, meaning you have no leverage to post yourself let alone lift it off you. This is not a sign of weakness its a sign of lack of possition. Now the myth does show that Magni was stronger than the other gods present, but then so was Thor, and Thor never does get the chance to try to lift. Also remember that this is the one myth, the one story that Magni appears in, so this is his only feat of strength. Thor has numerous, from destroying mountains to lifting multiple whales at once to pulling the Midgard Serpent out of the water. Magni has his work cut out for him if he is going to match his father.
Does this mean that Magni can't be stronger than his father or that he may not one day be? No, but you are not going to find a justification for it in myths and legends.
@z3ro180: Thor was pretty much the god of everything. His worshippers prayed to him for strength in battle, a successful harvest, success at marriage, successful sea voyages. He was the god that oaths were sworn to and who was prayed to for vengeance. He was prayed to for protection. It was Thor and his symbol not anyone elses's that competed with Christianity and the cross symbol. Some Christian priests even prayed to him. He's called the god of Thunder because that's his name, but his spere of influence was much greater.
@powerherc: Again Hercules is not shown to be stronger than Hercules. Every flat out contest of strength between the two has shown them as equals. Also, Thor was stronger than his father, this is true, but the odds of Magni being stronger than Thor, based on past showings, are pretty slim. Thor is stronger than Odin because, thanks to his mother Gaia he is a purer strain of god, one step removed from Gaia. All of the Asgardians have shown to grow weaker in successive generations. Balder and Tyr are both slightly weaker than Odin and significantly weaker than Thor. Every other Asgardian is weaker than they are. Tyr was considered the mightiest warrior in Asgard before the loss of his and and the coming of Thor. And Thor with the Odin Force was barely a match for Bor whereas Odin at full power humbles Thor with relative ease. Magni's mother in the comics is Amora who has a claim at superhuman strength by virtue of being an Asgardian but is likely the physically weakest of the goddesses. He is probably stronger than any other Asgardian, but odds are he is not going to surpass the full strength of Thor.
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